Mill Creek Park hikers brave cool conditions to mark Earth Day 2012

Mill Creek Park hikers brave cool conditions to mark Earth Day 2012

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Earth Day was an occasion to showcase the natural beauty of Mill Creek Park in two simultaneous walking tours.

Under cloudy and cool conditions and intermittent drizzle, a retired naturalist today led one of the walks from the Ford Nature Center to many notable natural and historic sites.

The park’s assistant horticulture director led the other walk through Fellows Riverside Gardens, which were ablaze with color at the peak of their springtime glory.

Park officials and the retired naturalist said Earth Day, which has been observed since 1970, provides an opportunity to remind people of their responsibility to live in harmony with nature.

“It’s one day of the year when we want to call our attention to our environmental problems and how we, as human beings, are contributing to those problems, and also what we can do in our everyday living to make changes to help heal the planet,” said Bill Whitehouse, the retired park naturalist, who led 14 people on a three-mile hike.

Since the first Earth Day, progress has been made in environmental legislation through the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, the Endangered Species Act, and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Whitehouse said.

“Recycling has become a way of life for many, many people,” Whitehouse added.

In deciding who to elect to office to facilitate progress in environmental protection, Whitehouse urged the public to examine the declared positions of political candidates concerning environmental issues and their voting records on these matters.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.